Heather's article in the Daily Journal – School chief under fire
Tears were shed, ideas were shared, fingers were pointed and the superintendent's resignation was demanded as community members had their first chance to vent frustrations over the $3.5 million in budget cuts to be made next week by the San Mateo Union High School District. At a packed meeting held last night at the San Mateo High School gym, the community was given three possible options of cuts for this year's budget. Two options were dependent on the teachers and classified staff agreeing to take a salary rollback. Currently, both unions are standing firm against the salary cuts. In light of the stance, the district staff recommended a third option, which would eliminate 61 full-time employee positions affecting both classified and credentialed staff. The loss of these positions will affect more people than numbers represent, since the hours part-time employees work are combined to create many full-time equivalent positions. No cuts were made as a final decision will be made Sept. 28.
Many speakers asked Superintendent Sam Johnson, along with other district staff, to resign or take a very different paths to financial recovery. Suggestions included using the district property as collateral for a loan, re-examining the new seven-period day and for the district to resist cuts until more options could be considered. Board members requested more information about the given suggestions. Regardless of the ideas, the well-being of the students was everyone's top priority. There is a rift between the teachers and the district. A rift that we [the students] are caught in between. … I am calling for an end to the damaging rift. Our teachers should be respected and valued for all the time, effort and love they put into their work,? said student Trustee Mitra Anoushiravani.
The meeting was plagued with problems as it began in an overcrowded room that was shut down by the fire marshal. Hundreds of concerned citizens were moved to the San Mateo High School gym to accommodate the crowd a move that caused the meeting to begin an hour behind schedule. Many board members chose not to make any comment after the long line of speakers protested the cuts, requested different routes be considered and demanded answers for the decisions creating the dire situation.
A number of incorrect property tax projections, county tax rebates, rising special education costs and late notifications led to the district's current deficit position, said Associate Superintendent Liz McManus. A complicated situation she previously described as the perfect storm? of financial problems. There was no perfect storm. We just did not read the weather report,? said Burlingame High School teacher Kevin Nelson. The County Office of Education is requiring the district to create a plan to end the year with $2 million in its reserve still $700,000 shy of the legally required 3 percent reserve by Sept. 29. If the superintendent's office did not fully understand, by the start of the school year, the extent of this crisis then their hastily assembled proposals for a so-called solution are panic driven and ill considered. The district, by its own reporting, has not had time to make well deliberated decisions,? said Barbara Regan, Capuchino High School special education teacher who was representing Teachers for Fiscal Responsibility the group asking for Johnson's resignation.
This week, high school teachers facing the choice of having their salaries cut or losing colleagues to layoffs began protesting the choice by cutting off voluntary activities such as extra help for students, club supervision and locking their classroom doors during lunch. Johnson said the district's effort is to keep the cuts away from students. He said he was dismayed to learn teachers were not available to help students. There are life lessons of responsibility and sacrifice for the greater good, which students are missing out of because of such protesting, he said. Students were dismayed at the idea that any cuts would not effect their everyday lives. You seem to think by firing teachers you're not harming students. I don't know, because we're not the ones getting fired? … You'll see the test scores drop. You'll see it on paper. There are better ways to go about it than this,? said San Mateo sophomore Edan Freiberger.
Individuals made pleas for the various programs like libraries, music and special education teachers. Dorian Evers and Zaina Arslan, student leaders from Hillsdale High, presented a protest signed by 400 students to preserve the small learning communities. Monica Peck walked in front of the crowd with a large poster that read, I was fired.? The Capuchino High special education teacher received notice earlier this month that Sept. 22 would be her final day. This week the district asked Peck to stay on through Sept. 28. Peck is one of many who joined the district this summer, drawn to its higher pay and special education program. A list of 149 suggested cuts was compiled and chopped down to create the proposals presented. The proposal recommended to the board includes firing temporary teachers, laying off campus aides, cutting maintenance and food service workers, letting an accompanist for the music classes go and reducing substitute teachers, administrative workers and technology support. The options calls for the district to tighten its own belt by utilizing e-mail rather than using paper, cutting the $20,000 cell phone bill, eliminating travel compensation, a $200,000 reduction in overtime, a $5,717 salary rollback by Johnson and a $100,000 cut in transportation. Trustee Linda Lees Dwyer proposed asking the community for donations and started the efforts by handing over a $1,000 check.
The school board votes on cuts 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28 at the San Mateo Adult Resource Technology Center, 789 E. Poplar Ave., San Mateo.
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Click here for the article in the San Mateo Times (plus photo)
– Written by Fiona
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